Stocks Flat to Start Tuesday

Ecosynthetix in Focus

Canada’s main stock index was little changed in early trading on Tuesday, supported by gains in natural resource shares and as global equities markets rose on signs North Korea is willing to hold talks with the United States.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index gathered 14.87 points to open Tuesday at 15,556.15

The Canadian dollar charged up 0.42 cents to 77.46 cents U.S.

Bombardier said Monday it will sell equity to strengthen its balance sheet as part of a five-year turnaround plan.

Bombardier dipped 30 cents, or 7.5%, to $3.70.

CIBC cut the target price on Canadian National Railway to $108.00 from $111.00. CNR shares backpedaled $2.27, or 2.3%, to $94.88.

Canaccord Genuity cut the target price on EcoSynthetix to $2.50 from $3.00. The shares that trade under the symbol “ECO” did not move all, maintaining a price of $2.01.

Western University’s IVEY School of Business said its seasonally-adjusted Purchasing Managers’ Index increased to 59.6 in February from 55.2 in January and 55 in February 2017. A reading above 50 indicates an increase in the pace of activity.

The S&P 500 inched up 1.7 points to 2,722.64, with energy and tech as the best-performing sectors.

The NASDAQ composite Index added 29.48 points to 7,360.19

North Korea said there was no need to keep its nuclear program as long as there was no military threat against it and the safety of its regime was secured, the head of the South Korean presidential National Security Office, told a media briefing.

Trump announced last week the U.S. would be imposing new tariffs on aluminum and steel, before going onto threaten European carmakers with a tax on imports if the European Union retaliated over the U.S. administration's tariff plans. However, on Monday, fears eased after
Trump suggested in a tweet that he could drop tariffs if a "new and fair" North American Free Trade Agreement was signed.

Shares of General Motors, a company that would be adversely impacted by steel and aluminum tariffs, rose 0.3%.

But GM, along with the broader market, pared its gains after Bloomberg News reported citing sources that Trump was convinced Gary Cohn — his chief economic adviser — would leave the administration if the tariffs were implemented.

In corporate news, Nordstrom shares slipped 1.7% after the company rejected an offer from the Nordstrom family to take the company private for $50 U.S. per share. The Nordstrom family has been working to take the company private since last year.